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There was a spike in 1972 when the five-year option was introduced; people who had not,previously had the option of ending their marriages did so. And since the "grave financial or other hardship" defence as in force, it was high time that they were allowed to. Who would now want to make people stay married who had been separated for five years?

Pension sharing makes the "grave financial hardship" defence obsolete, and as for "grave other hardship" there is only one reported case where that has been run successfully. If we don't get any other reform, we should at least reduce five years to three (and two years to one) and repeal the defence.